Ric Flair recently appeared as a guest on “INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet” for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.
During the discussion, “The Nature Boy” spoke about his final match alongside Andrade El Idolo against Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal back in July of 2022.
Flair spoke about the business success of the event, which reportedly drew a gate of approximately $450,000 and drew an estimated 24,000 buys on pay-per-view.
“Everything went great (for my last match), including the 9,000 people we packed in there which was more than WCW or WWE had-had in the building forever,” he said. “And then I just walked on the ramp and I just, you know, a combination. I guess I’d be nervous and everything started out fine though. So, I don’t know why I got lightheaded for a second. I made the mistake of saying to one of the guys, ‘I don’t feel so good.’ Well, they all thought I was telling them, like, my heart or something like that. And that’s the worst thing I did and then I was like, I got real lightheaded. And I know that I was in and out all during the match. I was fighting like hell to get through it. But it was just fighting here (his head). Nothing that I felt, I wasn’t hurting anywhere. I just felt bad because the guys had been all panicking and worried about my health… We had constructed such a great match. If it had come off the way we’ve practiced forever, it would have been a masterpiece, but, you know, when I walked back to the locker room, Taker made me drink three Gatorades. Then I went to Kid Rock and drank all night long.”
He continued, “Oh God (there were more spots we were going to do). They were just gonna slam me off the top, suplex me, stuff on the floor. Everybody just panicked. It all was a concern for me, they didn’t forget their parts. They just (went), ‘Let’s get through this.’ I mean, that’s why I had to fake that heart attack. I went, ‘Slow down, slow down, I’m okay.’ Should have never said anything. So then we got a little bit more back in. But my son-in-law (Andrade) had to put the brass knucks on my hand. He’s going, ‘Wake up sir.’ That was it.”
‘Naitch also claimed he is getting the itch to wrestle again, and mentions Ricky Morton as someone he would be interested in as a final opponent.
“I want to wrestle again right now. Isn’t it crazy? I feel like, because, Ricky Morton, the guy that I should have chosen for my last match, would have been great,” he said. “Ricky Morton is still wrestling. You know what the best thing for me about it was? Is I forced myself to really get in shape. I’ve heard this from guys over the years. And when they were older, I was like, in my prime. The older guys would say, ‘Aye man, I’m tired of working out.’ And there gets a time when you just get bored working out. You don’t have a goal. I mean, they gave me a goal and I just attacked it. I didn’t stop drinking or anything but I was training literally training three hours a day, five days a week in the ring, or I was doing the sled, the ropes. Yeah, I got my bench press up for two-and-a-quarter. I mean, so from being dead to all that was pretty cool.”
Check out the complete interview at ChrisVanVliet.com. H/T to POSTWrestling.com for transcribing the above quotes.
